Easton



(No Model.) I 2 SheetsSheet 1. A. G. EASTON.

AIR BRAKE. No. 354,014. v Patented Dec. 7, 1886.

WITNESSES IJVVEJV' 0R L) m M5 I flitorneyl.

UNITED STATES PATENT Oriana,

AROHIBALD GAMBLE EASTON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI,

AIR-BRAKE.

SPECIPTCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354.014, dated December7, 1886.

Serial No. 195,915. (No model) To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARonrBALnGnMBLE Easron, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of St. Louis, in the county of St. Louis andState of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAiuBrakes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description 01" the invention, which will enable othersskilled in the art to Whichitappertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying d rawings, which form a part ofthis specification, and in which- Figure l is a longitudinal verticalsectional view of my improved air-brake. Fig. 2 is a similar view of theapparatus, showing it adapted asa vacuum-brake; and Fig. 3 is asectional View, on an enlarged scale, of the valve connecting thecylinders in the pressurebrake with the iillll1-1)l] )i3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

My invention has relation to air-brakes; and it consists in the improvedconstruction and coi'nbinationof parts of an air-hrnke, which may with afew changes he used either as a pressurebrakc or as a vacuum-brake, ashereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter A indicates a reservoir, oneend of which is open and connecting with a cylinder, 13, through thehead 0 of which passes a piston-rod, E, provided with a piston, F,sliding in the cylinder. The cylinder G, ofa somewhat smaller diameterthan the former, cylinder, is formed integralwilh the head of the saidcylinder, and has the piston-rod passing through in its outer head, H,and the piston-rod is provided with a piston, I, which reciprocatesWithin this cylinder. 4

The inner piston in the larger inner cylinder is provided with a tube,J, passing through it, and formed at its inner end with a valve seat, K,upon which fits a valve, L, the stem of which slides in a cage, M,surrounding the valve, and has a spring, N, coiled around it, whichbears against the body of the valve and against the cage, forcing itagainst its seat, the said spring having a screw, D, for adjusting itspressure upon the valve. This valve opens into the reservoir, allowingair to enter Pipes P and Q enter the heads of the inner and outercylinder, and the rear or inner end of the outer cylinder is providedwith an aperture, I communicating with the outside air. The pipesentering the heads of the cylinders are connected into a pipe, S. whichagain is connectedto the train 'p pe T, which passes from the air-tankof thelocoinotive under all the cars, having the usual couplings at theends of the cars.

The pipe connecting the cylinders with the train-pipe is provided withacasing, U, formed with laterally-projecting nipples V at its ends, intowhich nipples the ends of the portions of the pipe are secured, and theinte'rior of this casing is formed with a large bore, W, having anaperture, X, through the side of the casing, and having a stop orflange, Y, at its upper end, and with a smaller bore, Z, connnunicat ingat its lower end with the larger bore and formed with a valve-seat, A,atits upper end, passing up through the casing parallel to the largerbore. A valve. B, fits upon the valve seat at the upper end of thenarrow bore, Opening upward, and a cylindrical plug, 0', tiisand slide-swithin the larger bore. and has aspring, D, bearing against its lowerend, forcing it upward, so as to bear against the flange, and

to cover the aperture in the side of the casing and uncover the aperturethrough which the smaller bore communicates with the larger bore.

The brake mechanism is connected to the end of the piston-rod, placingthe brakes on when the piston-rod is forced out and drawing the brakesoff when the rod is drawn back,

hen the brakeis in operation and thetrainpipe is connected to theair-tank of the loc0- motive, the said pipe is tilled with compressedair from the tank, which air passes from the train-pipe into thecommunicating pipe and into the casing upon the same, where it raisesthe sliding plug and enters through the smaller bore, raising the valveat the end of the same,

passing into the cylinders through the pipes entering their heads andforcing the pistons back. This will draw the brakes off, allowing thetrain to move, and when it is desired to put the brakes on the three-waycock upon the pipe at the air-tank, or similar contrivance, is turned soas to allow the compressed air within the train-pipe, and consequentlywithin the cylinders, to escape. The air which was forced into thereservoir through the valve in the in ner piston will now expand and puton the brakes, the pressure within the reservoir being greatly in excessof the atmospheric pressure. The smaller outer cylinder and the pistonwithin it serve to force the piston -rod back, because the air enteringthe large cylinder at the same time from the train-pipe equalizes thepressure on both sides of its piston, and the pressure on the smallerpiston forces the larger back, the aperture in the inner end of thecylinder allowing any air which may have entered back of the piston toescape.

The valve upon the larger piston is preferably so adjusted that itwillnot open until the pressure in the cylinder exceeds the pressure withinthe reservoir by a certain number of pounds, which will cause the largerpiston to be forced back if the brakes are on, and the compressed airfrom the tank is admitted into the pipes for the purpose of forcing thebrakes oil, the air acting upon the piston and the 'closed valve forcingthe piston back until the pressure in the cylinder becomes sufficientlystrong to raise the valve. By using this valve the outer cylinder mightbe dispensed with; but I prefer to use it, as it serves to make theaction of the brakes in forcing them off more positive and quick. Thevalve will also allow air from the larger cylinder and from the pipes toenter the reservoirif thelatter should have had its air-pressure reducedby leakage or by other causes, bringing the pressure in the reservoirback to the pressure in the cylinder less the amount of pressurerequired to raise the valve.

The casing upon the pipe connecting the cylinders with the train-pipeserves for the purpose of doing away with the necessity of having theair escape from the cylinders through the entire length of thetrain-pipe, which in the case of a long train would be a considerablelength for the brakes upon the last car, while with this casing the airmay escape through the aperture in the side of the same when thepressure in the train-pipe is reduced, the air in the cylinders forcingthe sliding plug down, causing it to uncover the aperture. The springwill force the plug upward again when pressure is introduced into thetrain-pipe, and the compressed air will force the plug against theflange and hold it there, there being no possibility of the pressurefrom above upon the plug overcoming the pressure from below, as the areaof the upper end of the plug exposed to the pressure is smaller than thearea exposed at the lower end, the flange covering a portion of the plu\Vhen the apparatus is used with a vacuum, the valve upon the inner andlarger piston opens outward, consisting, preferably, of a bent pipehaving a valve-seat at its upper end and having a basket surrounding thesaid seat and a ball valve playing upon it, as shown at E, and thecasing upon the pipe connecting the cylinders with the train-pipe isremoved.

The air in the traiirpipe and in the cylinders is, as far aspracticable, exhausted by any suitablemeans, creating a vacuum in thepipes and the cylinders, as well as in the reservoir, from which the airwill pass out through the outwardly-opening valve in the piston. Thisaction will draw the pistons and piston-rod outward, which in this casewill force the brakes off, the action of the apparatus being reversed,and when the train-pipe is opened, to allow air to enter into it andinto the cylinders, the pressure of the entering air in the largepylinder upon the piston against the vacuum in the reservoir will forcethe piston back with considerable force, forcing brakes on.

When the apparatus is used as apressure brake, the air within thereservoir may be let partially or entirely out through the cock upon thereservoir, as the pressure will at times be too greatas, for instance,if a car having its reservoir tilled with compressed air is attached toa train in which the pressure in the train-pipe is not as high, when theforce of the air in the reservoir would force the brakes on ifsufiicicnt air is not let out of the reservoir by means of the cock,equalizing the pressure.

The valve upon the inner piston may be a common hinged valve having aspring for closing it, and the casing upon the pipe connecting thecylinders with the train-pipe may be dispensed with, although itexpeditcs the action of the apparatus, and, as heforestated, the outercylinder may be dispensed with for the sake ofsimplicity ofconstruction, although it will affect the effectiveness of theapparatus.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States- 1. In an automatic air-brake, thecombination of a reservoir, a cylinder secured to said reservoir andcommunicating therewith, a piston having a valve in it and having apistonrod projecting through the head of the cylinder connected to thebrake mechanism, and a trainpipe entering through the head of thecylinder, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. In an automatic ainbrake, the combina tion ofa reservoir, a cylindersecured to said reservoir and communicating therewith, a concentriccylinder at the end of the other cylinder, having a smaller diameter andhaving an aperture at its rear end, a piston-rod passing through bothcylinders and having a piston in each, the piston in the larger cylinderhaving a valve in it, and a train-pipe hav- IIO ing branches enteringthe heads of the two cylinders, as and for the purpose shown and setforth.

3. In an automatic air-brake, the combinationwof a reservoir, a cylindersecured to said reservoir and communicating therewith, a concentriccylinder of a smaller diameter secured to the head of the largercylinder and having an aperture at its inner end, a pistonrod passingthrough both cylinders and having a piston in the smaller cylinder, andhaving a piston in the larger cylinder provided with an inwardly-openingvalve, having a spring for closing it, and a train-pipe having branchesentering the heads of the cylinders, as and for the purpose shown andset forth.

4. In an automatic air-brake, the combination of a reservoir, a cylindersecured to said reservoir and communicating therewith, apiston withinthe cylinder, having a piston-rod connected to the brake mechanism,and avalve playing upon a seat upon the inner side of the piston and having aspring bearing against it, and a screw adjusting the pressure of thespring, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

5. In an automatic air-brake, the combination of a reservoir providedwith a suitably located outlet-cock, a cylindersecured to said reservoirand communicating therewith, a piston-rod having a piston within thecylinder, formed with a. valve-opening inward and provided with a springfor closing it, and a trainpipc entering the head of the cylinder, asand for the purpose shown and set forth.

6. In an automatic air-brake, the combina tion, with the cylinder andtrain-pipe having portions of connecting-pipe, a casing having nipplesat both ends for the attachment of the said pipe portions and having alarger bore provided with an annular flange at the upper end, and asmaller bore opening with its lower end into the larger bore and havinga valve seat at its upper end, a valve playing upon the valve-seat, anda plug fitting and sliding within the larger bore having a springforcing it upward, the said plug covering an apersmaller bore whendepressed, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

7. In an automatic air-brake, the combination of a reservoir having asuitable outletcock, and having an open end, a cylinder secured with itsopen end upon the open end of the reservoir, a concentric cylinder of asmaller diameter secured to the head of the larger cylinder and havingan aperture in the rear end of the cylinder, a piston-rod within thecylinders having a piston in the smaller cylinder and a piston in thelarger cylinder provided with an inwardlyppening valve having a springfor closing it and means for adjusting the force of the spring, atrain-pipe having a connecting-pipe, and branch pipes entering the headsof the cylinders, and a casing upon the connectingpipe having anaperture in one side and formed with a larger bore having an annularflange at its upper end and a smaller bore entering the larger bore atits lower end and formed with a valve-seat at its upper end and providedwith a valve upon the seat, and a cylindrical plug fitting and slidingwithin the larger bore and having a spring for forcing it upward, as andfor the purpose shown and set forth.

8. In combination with the cylinder and train-pipe of a pressure airbrake, a casing upon the pipeconnecting the cylinder and train-pipe,having a channel provided with an upwardly-opening valve and a channelwith an aperture in its side, and aplug sliding downward in the channelwith its lower end ex posed to the incoming air, as and for the pur=pose shown and set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereuntoaffixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AROHIBALD GAMBLE EASTON.

Witnesses:

STANTON ENNES, DAVID C. Owens.

